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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27109963">The Apology</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MFG2930/pseuds/MFG2930'>MFG2930</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Heist Wives Oneshots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ocean's 8 (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Heist Wives, Light Angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:42:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,032</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27109963</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MFG2930/pseuds/MFG2930</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lou and Debbie's fight on the beach ends in Lou storming off back towards the loft, does Debbie follow? How do they reconcile?</p><p>The story of why Debbie really went to prison, when we all know she was too smart to fall for Claude's bullshit.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Heist Wives Oneshots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992652</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Tammy Intervention</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>All mistakes are my own and feedback is welcome.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lou storms in like a hurricane wrapped in leather and cigarette smoke. Heeled boots charging across the loft, no one stopped her, not even Tammy who had paused halfway through mashing potatoes. A door slams upstairs and the loft goes silent.</p><p>“Shit” Tammy throws down the potato masher.</p><p>“You can hold on the ‘I told you so’” Debbie says from the doorway of the loft, she's far away but Tammy knows it’s directed at her.<br/>
“Sit,” Tammy says turning round to face the stove where the carrots are boiling over but before she does she shoots Debbie what can only be described as her ‘Mom’ glare.</p><p>Debbie despite better judgement does as she’s told, she’s been in enough arguments today. She slides into one of the seats at the counter.<br/>
“Tea?” Tammy enquires over her shoulder putting the kettle on.<br/>

“I have just made all this impossibly harder for all of us and you're offering me tea?” Debbie asks incredulously.<br/>

“Yes, because despite that mask you wear, I know your in pain too.” Debbie doesn’t answer. Its best she doesn’t enough of her hand had been revealed just by her sitting down. Talking was an absolute no go.<br/>

Several eyebrows in the room raised, they expected Tammy to chew her out without even raising her voice but not this. The only person unsurprised was Nine-Ball who had a knowing smirk playing on her lips.</p><p>They sit in silence till the kettle boils and Tammy sits a steaming mug in front of her. “So are you going to tell her?”<br/>
“What makes you think I haven’t already,” Debbie snaps but the face Tammy pulls is enough to make her want to tell the truth, not talking be damned if she couldn’t be honest with Tammy she would have no hope with Lou.<br/>

“Because what if despite everything she still hates me, for making this about him” The unspoken him was heavily implied.<br/>
“I can’t say she won’t, I never was able to read Lou as well as you could, and if you are having doubts I have no chance. But honesty goes a long way in our business, maybe start there.”</p><p>A tense silence follows until a voice closer than it ought to be speaks up "It's not really about him though is it, it's about her"</p><p>Nine-Ball had made her way across the room a while, breaking into Tammy and Debbie’s semi-private conversation but had yet to make herself known until now.<br/>
“You’re going to need this” She throws a small thumb drive onto the counter, it looks unassuming but Debbie knows it's not.<br/>
“But you said…” Nine-Ball cuts in “I did, its all gone, every one, except this one, thought you might need it someday, turns out I was right” She turns and walks back to her beanbag on the edge of the sofa circle that had been formed in the loft living room. Headphones back in. </p><p>Debbie turned back to Tammy who looked mildly surprised “So Nine knew…”<br/>
“Why call a hitman, when you have a hacker?” Debbie winks at Tammy as she stands, thumb drive securely in her grip. Tammy slides her over a second mug of tea.<br/>
“Peace offering” She offers looking between Debbie and the mug.<br/>
“Hopefully it will be enough” Debbie whispers as she leaves, two mugs in hand up the stairs to whatever awaited her the other side of Lou’s door.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Sweetie</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>No Beta all mistakes are my own.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The trek Debbie made up to the first floor of the loft felt longer than it was. Flash drive heavy now stashed away in the pocket of her coat. She reached the door to Lou’s room in record time but stopped just shy of knocking, putting the tea on the floor beside the door. The door was closed all the way, Lou never fully shut her bedroom door. In the days of Bingo halls and small jobs, it had been their bedroom door that remained open, in case of the need for a quick getaway. Debbie had lost the privilege of sleeping next to Lou after falling in with Claude. Knocking seemed fruitless, she would just be told to go away so instead Debbie leaned her head against the door.</p><p> </p><p>How had it all gone so badly so quickly, Debbie had been hoping Lou would want to get her own revenge on the bastard. But somewhere deep in the back of that fantastic brain of hers, Debbie knew that Lou could only react this way she didn’t know the whole story and she lashed out when she was scared, that’s what had happened on the beach. Lou was scared but of what?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“you better tell me this is not what I think it is”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t con me”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“We are going to get caught”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Why do you do this….why does there always have to be an asterisk”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“This is just like last time.” </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“This is just like last time.” </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“This is just like last time.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Head leant against the only thing separating her from her partner, she understood. Understood why Lou lashed out. Now she just had to get her to talk.</p><p> </p><p>“Lou?” Debbie asks almost whispering it into the grain of the wood. “Lou, please can we talk?”</p><p> </p><p>“Go away, Deborah” Debbie felt her heart sink. Lou never called her Deborah, even on the really bad nights years ago when they were barely making enough money to get by. Never. Debbie knew she had one shot at this.</p><p> </p><p>“Lou, sweetie, please” God please let this work. It was their special thing. If things got too out of control, on a job, in the bedroom…in life. Debbie or Lou would call the other sweetie, a pet name they never used and it would guarantee that all the other attention would be firmly on them. It was a promised they had made years ago, back when things were simpler.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>“We need like a safeword?” Debbie said from the passenger seat of Lou’s truck.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Didn’t know you were into anything that kinky.” Lou turns to her now, bringing down the binoculars from her eyes, casual smirk on her face.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Debbie maintained composure, however, pulling a smirk of her own “Wouldn’t you like to know, but I don’t mean just for that, I meant for when we are on a job.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“On a job?” Lou’s smirk is replaced by confusion. But she smiles anyway.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“yeah if everything's going to shit and either of us wants to bail, we say the safe word.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Got any suggestions as it's your idea” Lou reaches over tucks a flyaway strand of hair behind Debbie’s ear.</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>What Debbie wouldn’t give to be back in that beat-up old truck, watching their mark, Lou’s long delicate fingers running through her hair. Before she can dwell too much on that thought a voice called from the other side of the door.</p><p> </p><p>“fine” the voice it was quiet, devoid of any kind of emotion, it gave Debbie an idea of what was waiting on the other side of the door.</p><p> </p><p>The room was quiet, the only noise the wind whipping around the building, Lou was sitting in the armchair by the window, her feet tucked under her, nails chipping away as she chewed on them. It was a completely different image to the Lou that lounged around the loft, taking up as much space as possible in her effortlessly relaxed way.</p><p> </p><p>“You have five minutes.” Lou doesn’t even look up.</p><p> </p><p>She’s angry, Debbie’s ready for angry but the redness under her eyes gives her true emotions away. “I don’t need five minutes.”</p><p>Debbie sits down on the bed, close enough but far enough to give Lou space. The silence drags for a second longer, Lou still isn’t looking at her.</p><p> </p><p>“When I first met Claude, it was supposed to be for a one time job, a big payout so I could give you everything you ever wanted.” Debbie looks up from her hands, Lou’s looking at her now. Eyes hard and unyielding. She doesn’t believe her.</p><p> </p><p>Debbie continues “It wasn’t as big a payout as expected, so I agreed to one more job. I slipped up. I mentioned I had someone waiting for me at home and that’s where it all went wrong.”</p><p> </p><p>She pulls the hard drive out of her pocket, holds it in her hand and then hands it to Lou, who takes it without question. “When I went to get my cut, he was waiting for me with this?”</p><p> </p><p>“And this is?” She still looks angry but now there's a glimmer of concern behind her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“You”</p><p> </p><p>“Me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, your entire history as a con, from photographs to paper trails, all of it. Dating all the way back to the day we met.” Debbie pulls a soft smile from somewhere then, the vague memory of pulsing club music and blonde hair dancing across her mind.</p><p> </p><p>“How?... Where?” Lou just stammers. Debbie ignores her she has to say this now or she won’t.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s why I left, packed my stuff up and became his little puppet because one wrong move from me and you would spend the rest of your life in prison.” Debbie feels like crying, a weight lifting off her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>The bed dips, Lou’s sitting beside her now. “And prison?” she asks just above a whisper.</p><p> </p><p>“He needed a fall guy, and with the leverage he had on me I wasn’t going to say a word.” She’s crying now, she knows can’t see her hands on her lap for them. They haven’t spilt out over her cheeks yet if she can just hold out a bit longer.</p><p> </p><p>A hand curls around her on her lap, Lou brings it to her mouth and gently kisses the knuckles. “I always knew you were too smart to get caught” Lou lets out a wet chuckle at her own words.</p><p> </p><p>“I love you, you know” Debbie whispers into the empty space of the room. It was something they never said, it felt too permanent back then but now permanent is all Debbie wanted. “I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t.”</p><p> </p><p>There's an arm around her shoulder now, a silent pull into a soft embrace. She’s half on Lou’s lap but she doesn’t care. Lou is looking at her with an unreadable expression, somewhere between adoration and sadness. “I never asked you to do that, not for me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Prison was nothing compared to giving you up.” She looks up at Lou. “Once he had made me do that I knew I had to do whatever I had to, to keep you, safe baby.”</p><p> </p><p>“Even if it meant being his fall guy”</p><p> </p><p>“Even that” Debbie kisses the underside of Lou’s jaw softly.</p><p> </p><p>They fall into a comfortable silence, seconds stretching out into minutes until Lou speaks again.</p><p>“One thing I don’t understand is why you waited so long to tell me?”</p><p> </p><p>“I wanted to be sure.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure that you would do the job with me, sure that we could pull this off, and sure that this…” she pulls the flash drive from Lou’s other hand. “ was the only copy of the files left in existence.”</p><p> </p><p>“NineBall?” Lou asks. Debbie nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Would you have reacted differently to the plan if you had known from the beginning?”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t say, we might have had this argument sooner though and I wouldn’t have had to sleep alone all these nights knowing you were right down the hall.” Lou pulls Debbie even closer to her somehow.</p><p> </p><p>“Well now you don’t have to, but I know you, you're still angry under there, scared a little too maybe”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t lose you again Deb, not after I just got you back.” Lou turns her head away from Debbie eyes clouding with tears.</p><p> </p><p>“If anyone's going to jail, baby it's him, The plan is airtight.” She pulls Lou round to face her. “And your with me every step of the way?”</p><p> </p><p>“Every step of the way.” Lou manages a weak smile. She was so gone for Debbie Ocean she would walk through fire and in a way she was.</p><p> </p><p>“So what do you say baby, let's make the bastard pay.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, absolutely.” And for the first time in hours, Lou smiles.</p>
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